Kōtoku-in and its Great Buddha

Taiizan Kotokuin Shojosenji is a Jōdo-shū Buddhist temple in the city of Kamakura.

The Great Buddha of Kamakura is a monumental outdoor bronze statue of Amitābha Buddha at the Kōtoku-in Temple in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. The bronze statue probably dates from 1252, in the Kamakura period, according to temple records. It was preceded by a giant wooden Buddha, which was completed in 1243 after ten years of continuous labor, the funds having been raised by Lady Inada (Inada-no-Tsubone) and the Buddhist priest Jōkō of Tōtōmi. That wooden statue was damaged by a storm in 1248, and the hall containing it was destroyed, so Jōkō suggested making another statue of bronze, and the huge amount of money necessary for this and for a new hall was raised for the project. The bronze image was probably cast by Ōno Gorōemon or Tanji Hisatomo, both leading casters of the time. At one time, the statue was gilded. There are still traces of gold leaf near the statue's ears.

The hall was destroyed by a storm in 1334, was rebuilt, was damaged by yet another storm in 1369, and was rebuilt yet again. The last building housing the statue was washed away in the tsunami resulting from the 1498 Meiō Nankaidō earthquake, during the Muromachi period. Since then, the Great Buddha has stood in the open air.

Photo 75, 1987

Kōtoku-in and its Great Buddha

Photo 76, 1987

Kōtoku-in and its Great Buddha

Photo 77, 1987

Kōtoku-in and its Great Buddha

Photo 78, 1987